The Only Thing I Despise About The Fitness Industry

I got my first view of the Pacific Ocean this weekend. Right off the airplane and before my check-in, I hopped over to a local brewery that I wanted to try. I sparked up conversation with the bartender and he told me that the beach was just a quick half mile walk away, and that there were plenty of patio bars to sit at once I got there. So I finished my Ahi Poke and did just that.

My initial intention on going to the Golden State wasn’t for the fine fish and the warm sunsets. It was to learn. I wanted something to bring back to Virginia and Jungle Gym that I could really use to help my program grow stronger.

I can honestly say I may have brought back a few things that I enjoyed about my visit. Mainly the time alone, writing and thinking to myself on how to help boost this program. I can honestly say, however, that I was left with more smirks than smiles.

And it continued when I got home.

Have you seen the movie Creed?

I’m assuming that you’ve at least seen the movie Rocky. If not, I’m also assuming that you know the plot.

In Creed, Rocky Balboa’s greatest opponent’s son (Apollo Creed), seeks out to find Rocky to help him become the best boxer in the world. Rocky is old, not in the game anymore, and sick. However still knowing that his old school style of training could possibly get him to the next level, Apollo begs him for help.

That is was fitness is about. It’s about always trying to improve. Every single day. It’s about asking other’s for help. It’s about growth.

It should be about passion. It should be about community. It should be about learning respect for life and other’s lives. It should be about waking up every morning and learning new things about yourself. Impressing yourself. Reminding yourself.

It should be about these people.

However, sometimes it’s viewed as one big “hater’s club”.

Sometimes it’s about humiliation. Sometimes it’s about making yourself feel better through the demise of others. Sometimes it’s about not being responsible for your well-being but focusing only on what others are doing.

That’s not how it should be, an honestly it’s quite disgusting.

Why can’t we live in a world where a girl puts up a picture and someone doesn’t automatically think it’s photo-shopped? What about someone doing a squat with bad form?

We are here in this fitness world to lift other’s up. Not tear them down.

When I was in California and when I returned home I was witness to a bunch of fitness professionals, who are a head of a training program or business, completely trashing other programs. It was a bunch of missile launches on anything from CrossFit, or Paleo diets, or bodybuilding, or vegan lifestyles, or big time ‘Globo Gyms’.

I’m sitting there listening to people on the side making fun of vegans and how big time mainstream gyms are a joke.

I crossed my arms, rolled my eyes, and sat there. When really all I wanted to say was, “I don’t eat meat. I’ve worked at a large gym my whole life. Do you want to race?”

Why does this even matter?

Because it’s about respect for the business.

Let’s say you were a chef. Someone can come in and taste your food, not like it, and say bad things about it all they want. It shouldn’t affect you. But what if they just started throwing food around, breaking dishes, and telling everyone to head over to Wendy’s where real food is made?

That’s where the line is drawn. It’s disrespect for the business.

You want to know how I got started in fitness?

The Atkins Diet and Gold’s Gym.

I’ll always remember my roots. I’ll never tell someone to eat Atkins, but I’ll be damned if I tell them that they are a joke, wrong, or a fat-ass if they did.

My main questions are:

Why do people even know about other programs?

Do they spend more time focusing on them than their own?

Do they like making up stuff to make themselves feel better about how awesome their training is?

Do they think their clients would appreciate that?

It’s mockeries like this that annoy me. And it’s mockeries like this that will make my program better than it is now.

Why?

Because I can’t sit here and say that my program is better than anyone else’s. However I CAN say, that my program will be better than it was yesterday and each and every day it exists.

That in my opinion, is a true fitness professional.

California was not a waste of my time at all. It helped me sit down and think of ways on how I can adjust, strengthen, and secure my program’s belief. Also, how to focus on our goals instead of wasting my client’s time focusing on what other people are doing, if they are eating meat or not, or thinking of some witty hash-tags to insult them.

I’ll be giving you a short list of things that I personally believe are more important in my life. Things you should get more and do more of. I won’t bash another person, facility, or way of training.

Here’s the list:

I like fish over chicken because there is only one type of chicken breast and a million types of fish.

I like sun over shade because sun gives me Vitamin D and makes me feel good about myself.

I like dogs over cats because dogs cuddle and cats just use you.

I like bear crawls over box jumps because I like honey and pic-a-nic baskets.

I like water over Fanta because water will keep me alive and Fanta wants me dead.

I like the mountains over the beach because I hate sand in my shorts.

Another reason why I prefer bears.

There is another movie that you may be able to recall. Remember You’ve Got Mail featuring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks?

Tom Hanks owned a mega book store and Meg Ryan owned a family operated bookstore called A Shop Around The Corner. Both of them survived. Both of them operated to their own accord. Both of them targeted different customers.

Meg Ryan used a line in that movie that stuck with me. She said, “I’m not even worried about closing. The employees in their store have never read any of my books.”

It means that their passion and the reason for being an employee for that big company is not based on love for books. It’s based on something else. Something that shouldn’t even matter. Confidence in your program and passion about the job will get your “books read”.

I learned quite a bit in California. I learned what I don’t want to be known for. I learned that I want to be known for putting all my attention to who is front of me and not who is behind me.

I want to be known for being involved in the community, because that is where I am going to be for a good part of my life.

I highly encourage you to find a program that is focused on their program and not the faults of other programs. I highly encourage you find a training program that has a community that you can thrive off of. I highly encourage you find a set of goals that are based off of inspiring you to improve daily.

Jungle Gym is solely dedicated to your well-being. It’s a program that has no idea what other programs and training facilities are about. It’s a program that is willing to learn from all facets of fitness. It’s a program that is open-minded in letting any body type with any fitness goal partake. It’s a program that will you push to the limits without worrying about if anyone else thinks wrongly of it. Jungle Gym is Jungle Gym and we take pride in fitness. Not de-appreciating those who don’t do it the way you like.